


Racine St West: Due Soap

by dsa_archivist



Category: due South
Genre: F/M, Humor, Screenplay/Script Format
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 1999-03-20
Updated: 1999-03-20
Packaged: 2018-11-10 22:25:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,615
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11135886
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dsa_archivist/pseuds/dsa_archivist
Summary: This is Due South as rewritten by CBS to be more "accessible" to the public.





	Racine St West: Due Soap

**Author's Note:**

> Note from Speranza, the archivist: this story was once archived at [Due South Archive](http://fanlore.org/wiki/Due_South_Archive). To preserve the archive, I began manually importing its works to the AO3 as an Open Doors-approved project in June 2017. I tried to reach out to all creators about the move and posted announcements, but may not have reached everyone. If you are (or know) this creator, please contact me using the e-mail address on [Due South Archive collection profile](http://archiveofourown.org/collections/duesoutharchive).

Racine St West - Due Soap

This is Due South as rewritten by CBS to be more "accessible" to the public. 

Okay, okay, so Thatcher _does_ appear briefly in this one. :^) But not much, honest! OFC Warning : "This stuff is so purple, I'm getting diabetes". Brace yourself for What Might Have Been... 

Nik 

\--------------------------------------------- 

# RACINE ST WEST - DUE SOAP

Throughout the voice-over, we see appropriate scenes. The men for the most part square their jaws and look intently into the distance a lot, or struggle manfully to conceal their true feelings. The women, in defiance of occupational health and safety warnings about whiplash, toss their hair a fair bit. Elaine clasps her hands together and looks tearfully brave or heartbroken. Thatcher moves from pose to pose like someone in a glamour photo shoot, pouting seductively into camera. No one wears uniform. 

VOICE-OVER : This week on Racine St West, we join our hero, Benton Fraser, in his quest for his true love, Elaine. Ten years ago, she came to his remote village as an exchange student and they fell in love, but were torn apart by family duties. Now, Ben has come to Chicago to find her, but his search is fraught with dangers and temptations previously unknown to a man from the simple Canadian wilderness lifestyle. He befriends Ray Vecchio, a hard-bitten, disillusioned cop who has taken Elaine under his brotherly wing, and they seem set for happiness, until Ben's superior officer, Margaret Thatcher, decides to educate Ben in the social mores of the wicked Windy City. In a moment of weakness, he succumbs, but confesses to Elaine. Elaine, her heart rent asunder, turns for comfort to Ray, who confronts Ben. They are on the verge of fighting, when Ray spots a man pointing a gun at Ben, and quickly throws himself in front of the bullet. And now we rejoin our friends... 

FRASER and HUEY rush into the hospital, looking worried but struggling to hide it. A DOCTOR meets them near the nurses' station, holding out a hand to block their progress. 

FRASER : How is he, Doc? Give it to me straight. 

DOCTOR : (sombrely) I'm afraid it's not looking good. He was hit bad, there's no getting around that. These next few hours will be crucial. But he's a strong man, and he's got a will to live. 

FRASER : Is there anything I can do? I can't help but feel guilty; that bullet was meant for me. 

HUEY : (grips his shoulder; manly sympathy) Hey, Ben. He did it for you. He wanted it this way. 

DOCTOR : He's been asking for you. 

FRASER : Can we see him? 

DOCTOR : Only for a moment. He needs his rest. (turns to go, but remembers something) Oh, by the way, I got the results of that blood test back. (gestures at them both) Did you know you were brothers? (leaves) 

FRASER and HUEY react. 

HUEY : (aghast) What?! 

FRASER : (moved) My brother...? 

HUEY : So it was your family who left me on the boat during that trip to the Great Lakes all those years ago... you never came back for me. 

FRASER : If I'd _known_ , Jack, brother... 

HUEY : (turning away to look into the distance) I'm sorry, Ben. I just can't be here right now. 

FRASER : Jack...! 

HUEY : I need some space to think. (leaves) 

FRASER stands there, looking astounded, regretful, all these things he can't possibly convey in the one expression, then squares his shoulders (and jaw) and strides into the hospital room. RAY is in bed, hooked up to lots of machines that look very impressive, doing the usual "lying at death's door" soapie thing. 

FRASER : (goes to his friend) Ray... how are you? 

RAY : (coughs a little; rasping voice) You spoke to the doc. 

FRASER : (bows his head a little, distraught) Yeah. Ray, I've got to know - why? Why did you do it? 

RAY : Ben, I had to. I've spent years policing this town, and I thought I'd become desensitised to everything. But somewhere out there is the sweetest girl in the world, and her heart is breaking over a guy... a guy I know will do right by her. (with an effort, reaches out to grip FRASER's shoulder, manfully sympathetic) Ben, you've got to take care of her. 

FRASER : (in despair) Ray, she won't even speak to me. 

RAY : You hurt her bad. (turns his head and coughs weakly) But she loves you. And I can't let anything get in the way of that - no matter what the price. (falls back against the cushions, exhausted, closing his eyes) 

FRASER : (alarmed) Ray! 

RAY : (eyes still shut, very softly) You take good care of her, Ben. 

FRASER : (bowing his head as he manfully fights tears, gripping RAY's hand and swearing) I will, Ray. I will. 

FRASER is staring, hurt but manfully dealing with it, into the distance. ELAINE appears, and pauses uncertainly at the door. 

ELAINE : Oh! 

FRASER turns and sees that it's her. His expression beseeching, he says... 

FRASER : Elaine! You have to listen to me... 

ELAINE : (with held-back tears) No, Benton. I don't want to discuss this now. This isn't about us. It's about a man who hides behind a gruff exterior a heart of gold. It's about a courageous, compassionate man who stood by me when I needed a friend. 

There is a catch in her voice, and she rushes to Ray's side, taking up his hand in both of hers. She turns her head to hide the tears. 

ELAINE : Oh, Ray! Am I too late to thank you for everything you've done for me? Please, speak to me! You have to survive, I can't go on alone! 

FRASER : You're not alone, Elaine! (desperate) Please, you must listen to me! 

ELAINE : (holds out a hand to stop him, turning away) Not now, Benton. I just can't bear it. 

FRASER : (persists; his life depends on it) All that I've been through here in Chicago has been for you. I came here to find _you_ , Elaine. I love you! 

ELAINE : (heartbroken, but trying to hide it) Do you? Then how could you succumb to the wiles of that Canadian Circe, that scheming seductress who calls herself your boss? 

FRASER : (bows his head, ashamed) Oh, Elaine! I don't know what came over me. I was cast adrift in an alien culture, my only friend this brave man who hovers between life and death before us now. I despaired of ever finding you again, and in the blackest depths of that despair, I found that I was human, a weak creation of flesh, subject to the treacherous torments of desire. Elaine, I can never forgive myself for what I've done. (He turns away to the window, looking out at it soul-searchingly) All I can say is that, having known a woman like that, I can truly appreciate your goodness and inner light. (bows his head again) Oh, Elaine, have I destroyed any chance of happiness - with you? 

ELAINE : (melting; compassionate) Oh, Benton... when I think what you've been through, what you must have suffered... All your pains are mine, all your hopes, all your dreams - and, Benton, I can only ever be yours. 

FRASER : (runs to her, his face desperately hopeful) Oh, Elaine, do you mean that? 

ELAINE : I do, Benton. (a tear glistens artistically in her shining brown eyes) I love you, Benton! 

FRASER : And I love you, Elaine! (they embrace, doing that cheek-to-cheek thing you see in musicals, so both of them can face camera and look blissfully happy at the prospect of their futures together) 

The door slams open, and THATCHER is there, in something very tight and red, leaning against the door-frame in a time-honoured Scheming Seductress pose. 

THATCHER : (throaty laugh) Well, well, this _is_ a touching scene, children. 

FRASER and ELAINE react, ELAINE scared, but FRASER has an arm protectively about her. 

FRASER : (harshly) What do you want, Margaret? 

THATCHER : (glides in, oozing sexuality) I want what's mine. 

FRASER : There's nothing of yours here. 

THATCHER : (arches an eyebrow) Oh, really? (comes up to Elaine, holding her by the chin to study her face) Yes, quite pretty, in a Florence Nightingale kind of way. (Elaine jerks her head free) 

FRASER : (low-voiced, dangerous) Don't touch her, Margaret. 

THATCHER : Or what? (laughs huskily. Where's my thesaurus?) Really, now, Fraser, is she _anything_ compared to me? Compared to what I can offer you? (she drapes herself over him. FRASER stands rigid, refusing to respond; he only holds ELAINE closer) 

FRASER : (stonily) I'm not interested. 

THATCHER : (moves away, begins prowling the room. Her walk is still slinky etc, but her voice is now threatening) Oh, but you will be, Fraser. You see, there's a slight problem with this white picket fence dream the two of you have concocted. (her back was to them, and now she turns to face them, a malevolent smile on her face) Fraser, darling, I'm pregnant. 

Off FRASER and ELAINE's reactions. Be creative. And end scene. 

VOICE-OVER : Will Ray live to see sunlight dancing on the crystal surface of a bubbling brook again, or glistening dew on the bud of a flower by the rosy light of dawn? Will Jack Huey ever become reconciled to the presence of Fraser, the brother he never knew he had? What happened to Dief? Will Elaine's bright-eyed beauty and goodness be enough to save Fraser from the allures of the Tantric temptress Thatcher? And will Fraser really name the kid "Robert Raymond Buck Benton Thatcher Fraser" if it's a boy? For the answers to all these questions and more, tune in next week to CBS's Racine St West. Welcome home. 

============================================= 

Nicola Heiser 

Nicola Heiser died on 24th October 1997, and is greatly missed by her friends and fans of her writing. 


End file.
